


Hope will Return

by Mozart_the_Meerkitten



Series: Hope will (Estel and Maglor stories) [4]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Lord of The Rings, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21983566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mozart_the_Meerkitten/pseuds/Mozart_the_Meerkitten
Summary: Before young Aragorn leaves to go into the wild lands of Middle Earth, he stops to say goodbye to an old friend. Connected to "Hope will Find You".
Series: Hope will (Estel and Maglor stories) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583329
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	Hope will Return

**Author's Note:**

> So, remember when I said that "Hope will find you" was probably going to stay a oneshot? Weell....  
> I couldn't resist, I liked writing Maglor and young Aragorn too much. This story is set right before Aragorn leaves Rivendell to go into the Wild, shortly after Elrond tells him who he actually is.

Maglor hummed quietly to himself as he stirred a pot of stew, sprinkling in a few more herbs as he did so. Outside, he heard a familiar creak and smiled. 

He stood just as a light knock sounded on the door. A moment later a young man stepped inside, dark hair handing down around his face, his clothes plain and simple.

“Hello, Káno,” he said, softly.  
Maglor gave him a nod. “You’re just a few minutes early for lunch, but there’s enough for you to have some,” he had taken to doing that, making a little extra food each day just in case his boy showed up. Not that Estel was his, of course, but it was hard to think of him as anything else after so many years. 

“I’m afraid I can’t stay,” said the boy (not that he was really a boy anymore, not by human standards- and he was taller than Maglor now). “I just…” Estel sighed. “Káno I’m, I have to go.”  
Maglor felt his heart skip, and all of a sudden it felt as though his house was shaking the way it did during a great storm. “Oh.”  
“It’s not, it doesn’t have anything to do with you,” said Estel, quickly. “But, you know, Elrond finally told me who I am earlier this year, and now I think-I think it’s time for me to get out into the world and try to help it.”

_“Master Elrond says that when I’m older I’ll learn swordfighting and archery.”  
“And what would you do once you learned those things?”  
“I dunno. Mama says our people protect others, so I guess I’d do that.”_

Maglor swallowed hard. “Yes. Of course, you’re right little one,” at some point he had sat down at the table, but he couldn’t remember when. “Yes… yes of course.”  
Estel sat down across from him. “I’m sorry, Káno. Except for mother and perhaps Elrond, I’ll miss you most of anyone here.”  
Maglor smiled wanly at him. “It will be good to be missed,” he took a deep breath and stood. “But I have known this day was coming for a long time.”

Maglor walked over and opened a chest in the corner, pulling out a cloth-wrapped bundle and handing it to the boy. “I do hope it fits.”  
Estel unwrapped the bundle and his eyes widened. “Káno… you didn’t need to…”  
“I wanted to,” said Maglor, firmly.

Estel stood and let the fabric in his hands fall to reveal a simple, mottled hooded cloak. It was unadorned, save for a few, almost unnoticeable threads along the edges that wove together like vines. 

“It repels water, and the threads are woven in such a way that they will be hard to rend, if need be it will act as armor and protect you from unexpected attacks,” said Maglor, speaking quickly, as if he’d forget the words if he didn’t say them right away. “I knew you didn’t need anything ornate, and Elrond and the others mean well, but I’ve lived in the Wild and all you really need is something simple, so I, I did my best to make it so.”  
“You made this for me,” said Estel. “Káno… _thank you.”_  
Maglor nodded. “I have one more thing to give you,” he said, walking to his bed and digging under the mattress.  
“Káno, you don’t have to, this is enough, I-”  
“Here,” Maglor said, pushing a smaller bundle into Estel’s hands. “You need it more than I do.”  
Estel draped his cloak over a chair and unwrapped the bundle. He looked up at Maglor, openmouthed.  
“Don’t tell me you made this too!” he said, holding up a dagger with a curved blade, and a crossguard shaped like narrow leaves. The hilt was brown with simple silver vines and flowers designed on it.  
Maglor smiled sadly. “No, I did not. One of my brothers did, many years ago, in Aman.”  
Estel froze, then suddenly shook his head. “Káno, I can’t take this!”  
Maglor felt his stomach clench and silently berated himself. Of course the boy wouldn’t want something made by cursed kinslayers, he should have realized that, Estel would be a king for Eru’s sake, a king couldn’t go around wielding a weapon with that kind of history, it wouldn’t be right, he should have-  
“I can’t take something that came from your brothers!” continued Estel. “It, Káno, it’s one of the only things you have left from your family! I can’t take that from you.”

Maglor blinked, rapidly trying to process that. “What?”  
“I can’t take something that your family gave you,” repeated Estel. “The cloak is good enough, I’ll be fine, I can-”  
“No,” said Maglor, understanding but also not understanding at all. “You- I want you to have it, Estel. I have no use for it anymore, not here. Maybe someday I will fight again, but…” he shook his head. “Your life will take you down treacherous paths. This dagger was forged under the light of the Two Trees, in a better, brighter time, before all this darkness. It can cut through steel and rock, and has proven faithful in many battles. I pray it protects you and helps you when you need it most.”  
He looked up at the boy’s conflicted face and smiled. “Please take it, Estel. If I cannot be with you on your journeys then at least let me protect you in this way.”  
Estel took a breath. “You know that’s not really my name.”  
“It is to me,” said Maglor, quietly. “To me you will always be Hope. But please, little one, promise me this,” he set his hands on Estel’s shoulders and stared into the boy’s eyes, blinking tears out of his own. “Come back to me. Please. My spirit cannot take anymore grief.”  
Estel stared at him for a moment, then suddenly wrapped his arms around the elf. Maglor shivered, and returned the hug, holding tightly to his boy.

“I’ll come back, Káno,” said Estel, quietly. “I promise.”

****************************************************************

Maglor sat on his bed, reading, listening to the wind sing in the trees around him. It was a wild music, and once he had been able to sing with it.

But now his spirit was quieter, and the leaping and dancing and singing of old were but distant memories. 

He imagined the quiet creak outside his door. It was only the wind.

He imagined the soft knock, it was only a branch.

He did not look up when the door opened and a dark figure strode inside. So many phantoms haunted him now, as darkness crept back into the world, it was better to ignore them than fuel them with surprise and fear.

“Káno.”

His heart skipped. The voice was deeper than when he had last heard it, but he would have recognized it as quickly as those of his own brothers.

He set his book down beside him and stood silently, finally raising his head to look at the man before him. His dark hair hung long around his face, his clothes were disheveled and dirty. A mud-stained cloak hung from his shoulders, and at his side hung a curved dagger.

Maglor swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but for once couldn’t form the words he wanted to say. 

Instead, he rushed forward and threw himself at his boy, wrapping his arms around him and burying his head in the travelworn clothes.

Estel hugged him back, tightly, and Maglor could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

“I came back, Káno.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not gonna say this is the end of this little series this time, because I have ideas for a few other stories like this. I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
